December 25th Unchristmas
by Digicowboy
Summary: Rated PG in case Zealots read my work and hate me forever. In Mizuho, it's time to make the Mizuho potions, as well as various home-style cures. Sheena gets a little help from a certain someone in red who isn't santa, because this isn't a Christmas story.


December 25th

Disclaimer: Tales of Symphonia? Not mine. Sorry gov, shine yer shoes?

Snow was falling on the peaceful village of Ninjas, Mizuho. Insofar as a village of Ninjas can ever be peaceful, especially when it also happens to be the core of a bustling information network spanning the entire globe. But nonetheless, it was pretty, masking the world in white. Pretty, Sheena thought, but absolutely infuriating, nonetheless. It made it far too easy for people to track her, not something she liked. It was true that she wasn't doing anything urgent, just out walking in the fringes of the forest, but old habits die hard, especially when they're old ninja habits that have been drilled into almost since you were old enough to understand them. She was ill at ease with the tracks she was leaving. Then again, this was not the kind of forest where pretty young maidens could go skipping-a-merrily on warm summer days, talking, and, Martel forbid, even singing with the local fauna.

This was the sort of forest where, should any bubble headed bimbo try to pull that sort of stunt, all they would find, twelve months later, would be the hinges of her twee little basket hamper, a shred of cloth, and her ribcage. And that was if they were lucky.

Although amendments could be made, Sheena resolved, for Presea, because if the serious-minded girl ever got the quite frankly unlikely impulse to go skipping merrily, she could do so wherever she pleased. Sheena had once heard a tale called Red Riding Hood, in which a vicious wolf tailed the unfortunate girl in question home and eaten an elderly familial relative. In Presea's case, the wolf would barely be able to get out the 'Where' in 'Where are you going, little one?' before it ran into a nasty accident involving an axe roughly the same size as the girl in question, which she was known to wield with unparalleled strength and ferocity.

Yes. Well, in any case, she wasn't here for musing. Sheena looked around her, and up at the trees, until she found what she was looking for. A small, triumphant smile graced her lips.

'Bingo.' She said softly. There, high up on a sturdy tree, sat her prize. The small, delicate leaves and their white berries were greatly prized in Mizuho, especially around this time of year. A card, expertly thrown, sliced through the air and neatly severed the Mistletoe at the stem, dropping a neat bundle down to the ground as the card completed its arc and found its way back to her hand. Sheena was surprised that most people found the Igaguri style that hard to muster, to be perfectly honest. Using the Spell Cards was second nature to her, if not first nature. She stooped to pick up the plant carefully, all her years of training giving her a certain unconscious, fluid grace, even in such a simple act. She tucked it into her waistband bow carefully, then turned about and headed back to the village. No sense in dawdling, especially in this perishing weather. Sheena hated the cold, and, as usual, nor was she dressed for it. She did not hurry back, for she knew the village would now be a bustle of preparations and madness, and she valued her solidarity, her peace, and her quiet. But nor did she dawdle, for as she had noted previously, there was simply no sense in it. She simply kept to her own pace – brisk, yet not brisk enough to plunge her too soon into the chaos in the village. Even from here she could see the plumes of smoke rising from the village as the pots were prepared, and plants were stewed, steamed, simmered, and 'smashed up real nice', as the children had earnestly told her. There were times she missed her childhood. Grinding the plants down was certainly more entertaining than the adult portions of the same task, she thought. However, the moment swiftly passed. She had reasons enough to be glad she could not return to Childhood. Right at the top of these reasons were 'being found as an abandoned baby in the forest', and the entire incident with Volt. Happy childhood memories indeed. Still, she could not delay her walk forever, and all too swiftly, she found herself back at the outskirts of Mizuho. The air of excitement and general good will was almost palpable, and she could not stop the smile gracing her lips. She cast a brief eye at the sun. A little past noon. Lloyd should be arriving soon, if he was true to his word, and he always seemed to be. But first things first. She moved swiftly to her small house, and pegged the Mistletoe up over the fireplace, where it dripped melting snow and ice at her.

Indifferent to this cold reception (Ba-Doom, Tish!), she hooked up a medium sized pot over the fireplace, ready for later. Yes, you heard me. It was EXACTLY medium sized, and given the infinitely variable nature of the size hinted at by the word 'medium', this was no mean feat. The fire was also a welcome source of heat, and Sheena spent a few moments warming her hands by the flames before getting on with the rest of her tasks, and given that time passes far too rapidly when you're trying to get things done urgently in a short space of time, and also when authors want to skip over parts that are less than thrilling, Lloyd soon arrived at the door, his presence announced by a cheerful little knock on the door mantle. As ever, Sheena felt a small thrill in her stomach as she opened the door.

'Hey, Lloyd! You made good time!'

'Don't I always?' he grinned, leaning in and giving her a quick kiss. In his left hand, he held a rough sack, and with the other he hugged her to him. Sheena found her hands involuntarily sliding around his waist before she caught herself.

'Lloyd Irving!' she chided. 'What will the villagers think?'

'…That we're madly in love, which we are?' he said, grinning. Sheena smiled back at him, and shooed him into the house.

'Be that as it may, come all the way in first next time, OK?' she said, shutting the door firmly behind her to keep out the cold and keep in the Lloyd, presumably. 'Did you get it, by the way?'

Lloyd grinned and hoisted the bag.

'I got it. It was a real struggle, though. All the shops and stalls couldn't believe I wanted one this late. In the end I just went out hunting until I found one.'

'So it's certainly fresh…'

'None fresher.' Lloyd affirmed happily. His eyes found and fixed on Sheena's. 'You know, I'm really glad I could do this with you.'

'Me too, Lloyd.' she said simply, and then rolled up her sleeves with a business-like air around her. 'Okay! Let's get cracking!'

And crack they did. Mostly, they cracked the chicken, or at least the parts of the chicken that were inconvenient and disposed towards cracking in the first place, but they also cracked bad jokes. To be fair, they really were abysmal jokes, but 'tis the season, after all. Or something. Maybe they just weren't very good at jokes.

Lloyd looked up above the fire.

'You got the Mistletoe, I see.'

'I did, I did indeed.'

They looked at each other impishly.

'Is it the time I think it is?' Lloyd asked, trying to keep the tone of eagerness out of his voice. Sheena nodded, smiling all the while. She went to stand by Lloyd by the fireplace, her hands behind the small of her back. Lloyd looked down into her eyes, and she looked back, and what she saw there was all she needed. With a mischievous little glimmer in her eyes, she pulled her hands out from behind her back, and handed Lloyd a small mortar and pestle.

'Have fun, Lloyd, you big kid.' She said fondly, as he dropped the Mistletoe into the mortar bowl and started to grind it down. He looked up, an injured expression on his face.

'Hey, can I help it if it's kinda fun?'

Sheena laughed, and sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burrowing under his arm to rest her head against him, her eyes closed in contentment.

'You big kid.' she said again, softly.

In time, the Mistletoe leaves and berries had been crushed into a light paste, which Lloyd carefully emptied into the pot, along with some of the more vital fluids of the Chicken. They both mingled and mixed with each other and the boiling water already in there, and the entire concoction started to bubble. Lloyd looked at it carefully.

'That's it?'

'For now. It'll need refining and things, and there are more things to add, but it needs to boil for overnight first. All we have to do is attend the fire.'

'Sounds alright to me.' Lloyd smiled at the Summoner smuggled next to him, and grabbed a nearby blanket, which he draped over and around the two of them.

'Goodnight, Sheena.'

'Merry Christmas, Lloyd.' came the sleepy reply. Lloyd's brow furrowed.

'Christmas? Why would you wish me a merry Christmas, since there was no Jesus in either Sylvarant and Tethe'Alla, and it would therefore appear to be a nonsenseinventive word with no basis at all in this setting?'

'Good point. Forget I said anything.'

'But-'

'Kiss me, you impetuous fool. Maybe it'll shut you up.' Sheena teased.

'Now, who am I to argue with such a compelling case?' Lloyd said, grinning as he settled down for the night.

And, for decencies sake, becaus watching people sleep is just plain creepy,let us now pan out through the window, and over the snow covered village of Mizuho, glistening in the moonlight, and over the landscape in general. The Twenty-Fifth of December. It wasn't Christmas, for how could such a holiday exist without Christianity, but it was special in its own way.

A/N: Yeah, just a one shot thing I wrote to try and balance out some of the stories that feature Christmas in this section. Don't read too much into it, but I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews would be appreciated as ever, if you can count 'Don't do this again, ever' as a review. :P

Peace Out, DC


End file.
